MIAMI GARDENS— The marriage of Ryan Tannehill and Mike Wallace still feels a bit awkward.

Wallace broke out in Sunday’s 20-16 Carolina with five receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown. But there were also miscues by both the quarterback and receiver. Earlier this week Wallace said he wanted Tannehill to let it rip, yet there was a third quarter play when Tannehill ripped it too much and overthrew Wallace.

And then there was the potential game winning catch by Wallace. He was being defended and it looked like a tough catch, but here’s a great closeup photo of Wallace’s hands all over the ball.

Tannehill finished 28-of-42 for 310 yards, one touchdown (to Wallace) and one interception. But he was also the Dolphins leading rusher, and that’s not necessarily a testament to him. Miami ran for only 52 yards with Tannehill picking up 36 on four carries. Lamar Miller had 10 carries for eight yards (yes, that’s less than a yard per carry).

Daniel Thomas had three carries for 8 yards before injuring his ankle. If he is out for the Jets game, the Dolphins might finally have to activate and play rookie Mike Gillislee. With cold weather games coming, the Dolphins need some semblance of a running game.

– After the game safety Reshad Jones swore that he did not hit Cam Newton on that crucial personal foul call on Carolina’s final drive that gave the Panthers 15 yards deep in Miami’s territory. The way Jones described it, Newton did the NFL version of flopping.

– The Dolphins are now the only team in the NFL that hasn’t scored more than 27 points in a game. It’s a bit of stunner considering Coach Joe Philbin and his staff came to Miami with reputations as offensive gurus.

– Many players say “a loss is a loss” no matter how it happens, but Miami’s Cam Wake was honest after the game, saying he would have rather lost by 50 points then to play a strong 56 minutes and fall apart at the end of each half. Here’s Wake after the game recorded on hands-free Google Glass:

– The Dolphins led 16-6 at the half but were shutout 14-0 in the second half. It had a very similar feel to last month’s loss in New England when Miami led 17-3 at the half and was shutout 24-0 after the half.

– With center Mike Pouncey out again, the Dolphins used the same lineup as last week with Nate Garner at center and Sam Brenner at left guard. But this time former first-round draft pick Danny Watkins was inactive and the Dolphins activated David Arkin. Brenner briefly went down with a knee injury and was replaced by Arkin. It looked like Brenner’s injury could have been serious but he came back just minutes later.

– Rookie Dion Jordan had his first sack since the season opener against Cleveland, and this one was actually memorable. Against the Browns, Jordan’s sack was basically negated by a penalty. This time he got Cam Newton from behind — Newton never saw Jordan coming.

– At 5-6 the Dolphins somehow are still tied for the final playoff spot. Miami is tied with the Steelers, Ravens, Chargers, Jets and Titans. With the current tiebreaker situation the Dolphins are 10th. But they’ll head to New York and Pittsburgh the next two weeks so they’ll be in good position if they can win both those games. It’s a tall task in cold weather cities. The high for kickoff against the Jets is forecast right now in the high 30s.

After the game former and current Dolphins Ted Ginn Jr and Mike Wallace share a laugh (Allen Eyestone / Post photographer)